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SolarVu Installation for Solectria PVI Inverters Guide
1
SolarVu
TM
for Solectria PVI Inverters
Installation Guide
Site Preparation
SolarVu
TM
is an energy portal that enables remote monitoring of renewable energy
generation sites over the internet. It requires the installation of a K135 gateway
which continuously transfers data from the inverter(s). This guide explains
how to connect the K135 gateway to Solectria PVI3000 and PVI5300 inverters.
Each inverter has two RJ45 connectors on the bottom with RS232 and RS485
serial ports as shown in fig 2. To access SolarVu from a browser, the inverters
are connected to the internet through a Cachelan Kyoto K135 gateway DB9F
connector. The K135 connects to multiple inverters over RS485 using twisted
pair wire, typically cat5e, daisy chained to multiple inverters. An RJ45 ethernet
jack, connected to the LAN network and a 120VAC outlet for the gateway power
dongle are required. The LAN must have high speed internet service to an ISP
to provide a gateway to the internet as shown in figure 1.
K135 Installation
Mount the K135 gateway in an enclosure with conduit to the inverters or on the
wall with a wire feed where mechanical protection is not required.
Power Supply:
Plug the K135 power supply into a 120VAC receptacle and the
the 5VDC connector into the K135.
Ethernet:
Use a standard ethernet patch cable (not supplied) with RJ45
connectors of the appropriate length to connect from the K135 to the network
ethernet at a RJ45 wall jack or the router/switch.
RS485 Serial Local:
Normal installation is to mount the K135 gateway near
the inverters. Plug one end of a standard ethernet patch cable into the K135
DB9M-RJ45 adapter supplied and the other to the left RJ45 jack of the first PVI
inverter. Daisy chain ethernet patch cables from the right RJ45 jack (out) to the
left jack (in) of additional inverters. The terminator switch of the last inverter in
the chain should be set on and the others off. See the PVI instruction manual
for further details.
RS485 Serial Remote:
If the inverters are more than 300 feet (100m) from the
LAN connection point which exceeds the maximum ethernet distance allowed,
use either wireless ethernet or RS485 over the Cat5e cable as shown in fig 2.
Fig 2 K135 near PVI connections
Fig 1 Internet Connection
CABLE/DSL
MODEM
ROOFTOP SOLAR ARRAY
+
DC
K135
GATEWAY
FIREWALL
ROUTER
CORPORATE
ETHERNET
LAN
LOCAL
ACCESS
REMOTE BROWSER
ACCESS
INTERNET
SolarVu
Server
R
S4
85
ISP
GE703
+
DC
Ethernet
RS485
RJ45-L
RJ45-R
RJ45-L
View looking
into RJ45 connector
from plug side
SERIAL COMMS
BAUD
PARITY
DATA
FLOW
STOP
19,200
none
1
8
off
COMMUNICATION SETTINGS
K135 Gateway & inverter
comms settings must match
RJ45
LOCAL
ETHERNET
LAN SWITCH
RJ45 -Ethernet
RJ45 to DB9M
Adapter
GND
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
232 & 485
K135
DB9M
232 Rx
232 Tx
DTR
DSR
RTS
CTS
485 B-
485 A+
BRO
BRO WHI
GRE
BLU WHI
BLU
GRE WHI
ORA
ORA
WHI
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
T-568B
JACK
RJ45 plug
Viewed from
pin side
T-568B
RJ45 plug
Viewed from
pin side
T-568B
PLUG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
ORA
WH
ORA
GRE WH
BLU
BLU WH
GRE
BRO WH
BRO
ethernet
patch
cable
GE704
Solectria PVI5300 Bottom View
Set terminator ON only on
last inverter in chain
#1
#2
#N
RS485
RS485
RS485
>300 feet (100m)
Alternative Connection - K135 remote from inverters
RS485
DB9M
K135
PVI
DB9F
SIGNAL
SIGNAL
RJ45L
RJ45R
1
485 B-
485 B-
8
8
2
232Rx D
232Tx D
1
3
232Tx D
232Rx D
2
4
5
GND
GND
5
5
6
7
8
9
485 A+
485 A+
7
7
DB9F
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
View from
side
wire
RJ45
RJ45 patch cable
to PVI RJ45L
PIN NAME Cat5e WIRE
1 B- Blue
5 GND Green
9 A+ Blue White
Solder Cat5e cable to a DB9M & DB9F
connector and plug in at both ends
DB9F
LOCAL
ETHERNET
LAN SWITCH
RJ45 - Ethernet
DB9F
Type Cat5e CMX UV direct burial
DB9M
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
View from
side
wire
PIN NAME Cat5e WIRE
1 B- Blue
5 GND Green
9 A+ Blue White
DB9F to RJ45
Adapter
RS485
Inverter address is preset at factory by Solectria. Contact
Cachelan with inverter serial number when replacing
inverter so gateway can be configured to enable serial
communication.
